Page 108 of Hunter

“Baby?” Jennifer’s voice rings out, causing both of us to turn sharply. Shit. I forgot she was even here.

Sophia glances at me, then back at Jennifer. “You’re pregnant?” she asks, her tone flat.

Sophia’s face hardens, and she looks away, taking a seat, crossing one leg over her knee. “I’d rather not talk about that right now.”

“Jennifer?” I ask, my voice cutting through the silence. “Is there anything else you want to tell us?”

Jennifer hesitates for a moment before shaking her head. “I have nothing else to tell you.”

That doesn’t sit right with me. There’s something in her tone—something off. I tilt my head. “Then who does?”

The question stops her in her tracks. She had already moved toward the door, but now, she pauses, glancing back at me.

“That question will be answered soon enough,” she says, her voice cool and distant. “I’ll be waiting outside. You guys look like you need a minute. Let me know when you’re ready to plan your next move.”

With that, she leaves, the door closing softly behind her.

I collapse back into my chair, my head resting on the backrest as I close my eyes. There’s too much to process. Jennifer is my half-sister. She isn’t the enemy, just a pawn in some game I don’t understand. Sophia is pregnant and we’re already legally married.

The silence between us is deafening.

Sophia breaks it first, her voice low and steady. “Were you ever going to tell me you were the reason I got into the residency program in New York?”

My stomach twists, but I don’t look at her. “Technically, I didn’t know you,” I say, trying to keep it light. “I only met you recently.”

She sucks her teeth, crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing. “This situation has no technicalities, Maxim. When were you going to tell me?”

I feel a spike of irritation, but I swallow it. I’m not going to snap at her, not now. “I wasn’t sure when I was going to tell you. Maybe I wasn’t ever going to. To me, it didn’t really fit with who we are now. But when I met you, I didn’t realize it back then, but what I felt for you wasn’t just attraction. It was love. Real love.”

“Why did you help me get in?” she presses, her voice quiet now.

I exhale, running a hand through my hair. “During the charity function, I overheard you talking to one of the doctors. You were so broken, so hurt when he told you how hard it was to get into the program. You needed top grades, accomplishments, connections. I couldn’t stand seeing that look on your face. I had the pull, so I used it.”

Sophia’s expression hardens again. “You’ve been lying to me for over a year. You acted like you didn’t know me.”

“It wasn’t an act,” I say softly. “I didn’t know you, not really.”

She shakes her head, frustration clear in her eyes. “Maxim, that’s bullshit. The way my dad made it sound in that letter was that you knew everything about me.”

And there it is. The truth she has been holding onto. The same truth I’ve been running from.

I shake my head slowly, meeting her gaze. “No, Sophia. Back then, all I knew about you was surface-level stuff, things Ioverheard or got from your dad. It wasn’t like now. Now, I know you—truly. I know the deepest parts of you.”

Her lips press together, and she doesn’t answer immediately. Finally, she asks, “Why didn’t you talk to me at least?” Her tone is soft, but there’s something underneath it—a faint edge of resentment. It feels like she’s mourning a relationship that could’ve started years ago, one that might have rewritten our lives.

I stand and move to sit on the edge of my desk, leaning forward until we’re at eye level. “I’m not sure. It was a long time ago, but I like to believe that back then, I wasn’t as selfish as the man I am now. I didn’t want to taint your soul with my darkness. If you’d given me one of those beautiful smiles of yours, just for me alone…I wouldn’t have had the strength to let you go.”

She looks up at me through her lashes, her expression softening. There’s a flicker of understanding in her eyes, like she knows I’m right. “My life would’ve been so different if we’d started dating years ago.”

“Very different.” We both chuckle, but there’s truth in her words. If we’d been together back then, nothing would be the same. She wouldn’t have become a doctor—I know that much. I wouldn’t have let her out of my sight with all the enemies my father had, the ones I inherited. She wouldn’t have been safe.

Instead, she’d have been living in a gilded cage, and we’d probably already have a couple of kids running around. A frown tugs at my lips at the thought. She wouldn’t have been happy, not the way she is now.

Her voice snaps me back. “I’m six weeks pregnant.”

My breath catches, and the frown vanishes, replaced by a smile I can’t hold back. “When did you find out?”

“A couple of days ago. I’d been feeling nauseous, and when my period didn’t come, I took a test. Two lines showed up.” She hesitates, her voice lowering. “I haven’t gone to the doctor yet.I’ve just been…trying to wrap my mind around the idea of being a mom, and I was afraid of telling you.”

---